The Rural Alberta Advantage - Hometowns (2008)

First, I need to emphasize that the The Rural Alberta Advantage hold a strong place in my heart for being a band that has a sound that personifies everything that I remember, and simply know, about growing up in a certain place. Named after the colloquial saying that describes the benefit of coming from a region with both great economic promise coupled with rustic, conservative sensibilities, this band has strived to create a sound that tries to convey that idyllic sense of time and place.

Released by Saddle Creek Records, the debut album from the three-piece, Hometowns, contains thirteen tracks of folk/indie pop that comes across with a stripped-down presence that captures that innocence and confusion of coming from a place that is constantly trying to balance the big-city influences with the bucolic history that defines Alberta. The songs themselves can be applied to places outside of this province and this review should by no means give you the idea that this band creates songs aimed at a certain, specific audience. Lyrical topics range from discussing the tragic landslide that destroyed the mining town of Frank, Alberta to the simple ideas of the break-up of the lake ice after a long, cold winter in Northern Alberta. The description the band applies to their music might convey the concepts behind their craft better than my own personal descriptions:

The Rural Alberta Advantage play indie-rock songs about hometowns and heartbreak, born out of images from growing up in Central and Northern Alberta. They sing about summers in the Rockies and winters on the farm, ice breakups in the spring time and the oil boom’s charm, the mine workers on compressed, the equally depressed, the city’s slow growth and the country’s wild rose, but mostly the songs just try to embrace the advantage of growing up in Alberta.

The songs are blended with acoustic guitars, trumpets and stripped-down drums with a production that reminds me of bands such as The Decemberists, or even their label-mates Bright Eyes. This is not the Canadian indie –pop in the style of their fellow compatriots The Arcade Fire or Of Montreal, so be forewarned if you are expecting music in that vein. This comes highly recommended for someone looking for some music to truly enjoy the changing colors of the forest during the autumn while reflecting on the changing times around us, how much things change but always stay the same after all.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

http://www.theraa.com/